Rail-anticreeper



R. L. CAIRNCROSS.

RAIL ANTICREEPER.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 15, 1920.

1,361,962, Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

y INVENTOR. fier 27. Cacbrnoross ATTORNEY PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. CAIRNCROSS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-ANTICREEPEE.

Application filed March 15, 1920.

1 '0 all to hem it may concern Be it known that 1, Roman L. CAnmonoss, acitizen of the Dominion of Canada, and a resident of Chicago, county ofCook, and State of Illinois, have inventeda certain new, useful, andImproved Rail Anticreeper, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to devices for preventing longitudinalmovement of the rails.

, It is an object of my invention to provide a device of suchconstruction that it can be produced cheaply in large quantities, andyet be sufficiently uniform in size as accurately to fit the rails forwhich it is intended.

It is also an object of my, invention to provide a device which shall beapplicable to rails of different sizes, i. c. of different sections andwidths of rail bases. 7

Another object of my invention is to provide a device, the inherentcharacteristics of which shall cause it powerfully to grip the rail atall times even though changes of considerable magnitude occur in therail because of widely different temperature conditions.

Again it is an object of my invention to provide a device which can beplaced on the rail quickly and easily by any track laborer and withoutthe necessity of considering which end shall be first applied; toprovide a device of such construction that even excessive rail vibrationshall be unable to loosen its grip and hence which can be relied upon toserve. effectively, for a long time; and to provide a device, theinherent characteristics of which shall enable it to absorb railvibration in such a manner as to prevent crvstallization or fatigue ofthe metal and hence obviate premature breakage.

My invention consists generally in a device so formed and shaped. andcomposed of such material that the above named obiects. together withothers that will appear hereinafter. are attained: and my invention willbe more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate what I consider, at the present time, to be thepreferred embodiment thereof.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a face view of a device em- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

Serial No. 366.061.

bodying my invention, its size relation to a ail being indicated bymeans of dotted lines.

Fig. 2, is a view of a rail base illustrating the first step in applyingthe device to the rail. i

Fig. 3, is a fragmentary plan view of the rail anti-creeper in theposition shown in Fig. 2.

Fig.1, is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating the rail devicepried open.

Fig. 5, is a view illustrating the device applied to the rail base; and

Fig. (3, is a perspective vie-w illustrating the device applied to therail and coacting with an adjacent tie.

The precise form of device, 2'. 0. its section and shape may be variedsomewhat but I prefer to make it of spring steel especially treated towithstand the severe service conditions imposed upon a device of thiskind. The cross section and the thickness of the metal may be varied toa considerable extent and still give satisfactory service.

I shall first describe the device in its ini tial form. 11. c. the shapewhich it has before it is applied to the rail. This will best beunderstood by reference to Fig. 1 wherein 2 represents a standard railhaving a rail base 3 of which 4 is a bottom face, 5 and 6 the upperinclined faces. and 7 and 8 the side faces or edges. I have indicatedthe rail only by means of dotted lines. better to illustrate the sizerelation of the parts.

The rail anti-creeping device, as here shown, is formed with anundulatory bottom portion composed of the central hump portion 9 and twocurved portions 10 and 11. and two upstanding side portions undulatoryin form. The side portions are composed of inwardly curved portions 12and 13 which merge downwardly into the curved portions 10 and 11 andwhich merge up wardly into the curved hook-like portions let and 15.respectively. For the sake of convenience in terminology. I shall referto the portions 14 and 15 as spring clamp portions. The termini l-l' and15' respectivelv of the spring clamp portions 1% and 15 approach quiteclosely the portions 12' and 13' and. as is well shown in Fig. 1. leavegaps ll and 15'. respectively, which are of less width than thethickness of the bottom of the rail at that point. This necessitates thespringing or opening of the spring .the side portions of the rail base.

clamp portions 14 and 15 in order to admit As will be seen shortly,expansion of the device as a whole is also necessary for application tothe rail;

To apply the device to the rail either one of thespring clamp portionsmay be applied first, and in Fig. 2 of the drawings I have indicated thespring clamp 15 as being first applied. This is placed over the railbase by inclining the device, as a whole, downwardly and then forcingthe spring clamp portion 15 transversely of the rail substantially asfar as it will go, or until the edge 8 of the rail engages the adjacentportion of the spring clamp 15. As is shown in Fig. 3, the device isapplied in close proximity to a tie 16 and the device as first appliednot only extends angularly downwardl but also angularly away from thetie. n this manner it is possible to place a crow bar or other device inthe opening defined by thespring clamp portion 14 and thereby pry,force, or spring the device open, as a Whole, sufficiently to clear theedge 7 of the rail as is well shown in Fig.

4. \Vhen the prying device is removed the clamp 14 will spring intoengagement with the base of the rail, but, inasmuch as the space 14" isless than the thickness of the base at the point Where it is desiredultimately to place the spring clamp portion, I force the spring clampinto place'as by driving it with a hammer, mall or similar tool. In thismanner both spring clamp portions 14 and 15 are 'finally disposedsubstantially equidistant from the center of the rail base as is wellshown in Fig. 5. \Vhen in this position, the endv portion 14 is sprungupwardly, a greater distance from the portion 12' than the distance itoriginally occupied. It, therefore, grips the rail base with great forcedue to its tendency to return to its initial shape. Likewise the endportion 15 of/the other spring clamp 15 is sprung upwardly from thecorresponding portion 13 and acts in a like manner powerfully to gripthe rail base. Because of the gently curved shape of the spring clampsthis separating movement can be 'occasioned'without any danger ofinjuring the metal or of exceeding its elastic limit. dulatory formationof the bottom and side portions of the device, it can be sprung opensufficiently to span the rail base as required for its applicationwithout the least danger of injuring its stability or exceeding itselastic limit. when the device is applied to a rail base of one size,but it is also true as applied to rail bases varying considerably inwidth. The spring clamp portions likewise adapt themselves very readilyto rail bases of different sections, 6. wherein the angularity Likewise,because of the general un-' Not only-is this true.

of the top faces of the rail base vary considerably. I

Furthermore, it is an inherent characteristic of the formation which Ihave provided to tend to spring the clamp portions 14 and 15 toward eachother beyond the position which they normally occupy on the rail, Thisresults in increasing the tenacity of its grip and resisting anytendency of the device to loosen under any of the conditions met with inuse, whether it be the contraction of the rail, as by low temperature,expansion thereof as by high temperature, or violent vibration of therail incident to trafiic conditions. It is an acknowledged fact thatmany rail anchors may be applied ever so tightly and yet, in time, thevibration will shake them loose. The reason for this has not heretoforebeen well understood. After long study of the problem, I attribute theloosening of initially tightly secured rail anti-creeping devices to thefact that they are often locked on one side of the rail base by a forceor metallic formation which is different from that with which the otherside of the rail base is gripped. Vibratory action obviously has moreeffect on one side than on the other of devices locked in this mannerand results eventually in the loosening of such unequally locked partsIn order to overcome this objectionable feature, I have purposely formedmy device in as nearly a symmetrical manner as possible and in suchmanner that after it is appliedto the rail it shall be disposedsubstantially centrally of the rail parts and hence grip the rail baseon both sides with equal force. A device which is thus equally lookedupon both sides will maintain its gripped position eventhough it belocked that either clamping portions can be first appliedto the railthus eliminating the possibility of misapplication even by the mostordinary track workmen.

In F 1g. 6 of the drawings the arrow on the rail indicates the directionin which traffic conditions would ordinarily tend to cause creeping ofthe rail. Any such movement of the rail, however, immediately causes theportion of the device depending from the rail base to engage theadjacent face 16 of the tie 16 with a resultant tendency to rock thedevice vertically and thus more forcibly cause the gripping of the railparts between the end portions 14' and 15' and the adjacent portions 12and 13' of the spring clamps 14 and 15.

Even tendency of the rail to creep in the opposite direction-is in alarge measure prevented by the packing of the ballast in and around theundulatory bottom portion of the device. This is particularly true inthe winter season when the ballast is frozen into an almost solid mass.

The many advantages of the device Will be apparent to those skilled inthis art Without further comment.

For the sake of convenience of terminology in the claims the railanti-creeper will be considered as positioned when in use, i. e. in asubstantially vertical position.

I claim:

1. A rail anti-creeper having a humped bottom portion and symmetricallydisposed spring clamp portions, said humped bottom portion extending asa whole downwardly from the spring clamp portions.

2. A rail anti-creeper formed of metal, having a bowed bottom portionand symmetrically disposed spring clamp portions said bowed bottomportion extending as a whole downwardly from the spring clamp portions.

3. A rail anti-creeper formed of metal having a bowed bottom portion andsimilarly formed symmetrically disposed spr ng clamp portions, saidbowed bottom portion extending as a whole downwardly from the springclamp portions.

at. A rail anti-creeper device formed of metal, having a bowed bottomportion symmetrically disposed and formed spring clamping portions thetermini thereof approaching lower portions of the device and forminggaps of less width than the thickbase with which they are to coact.

5. A- rail anti-creeper device formed of metal having a humped bottomportion symmetrically disposed and formed spring clamping portions thetermini thereof approaching lower portions of the device and forminggaps of less width than the thickness of the rail base with which theyare to coact.

6. A rail anti-creeper device formed of metal having a humped bottomportion, humped connected side portions, and symmetrically disposedspring clamp portions, said humped bottom portion extending as a wholedownwardly from the humped side portions.

spring steel, having formed of metal,

7 A rail anti-creeper device formed of metal, having a humped bottomportion, humped connected side portions and symmetrically disposed andformed spring clamp portions, said spring clamp portions terminatingclosely adjacent portions of the side humped portions thereby formingundersize gaps for reception of a rail base.

8. A rail anti-creeper device formed of spring steel, having a humpedbottom portion and symmetrically formed and disposed spring clampportions, said humped bottom portion extending as a whole downwardlyfrom the spring clamp portions.

9. A rail anti-creeper device formed of a humped bottom portion,symmetrically disposed and formed spring clamping portions the terminithere- 'of approaching lower portions of the device and forming gaps ofless width than the thickness of the rail base with which they are tocoact.

10. A rail anti-creeper deviceformed of spring steel, having a humpedbottom portion, humped connected side portions, and symmetricallydisposed and formed spring clamp portions, said humped bottom portion.extending as a whole downwardly from the humped side portions.

11. A rail-anti-creeper device formed of spring steel, having a humpedbottom portion, humped connected side portions, and symmetricallydisposed and formed spring clamp portions, said spring clamp portionsterminating closely adjacent portions of the side humpedportions therebyforming undersize gaps for reception of a rail base.

12. A rail anti-creeper composed of a piece of metal formed withundulatory bottom and side portions, said side portions terminating ininwardly curved spring clamp portions, said spring clamp portions beingsymmetrically disposed.

13. A rail anti-creeper composed of a piece of metal formed withundulatory bot tom and side portions, said side portions terminating inlnwardly curved spring clamp portions, said spring clamp portions beingsimilarly formed. I

1 1. A rail anti-creeper composed of a piece of metal formed withundulatory bottom and side portions, said side portions terminating ininwardly curved spring clamp portions, said spring clamp portions beingsymmetrically disposed and similarly 5 formed.

In testimony set my hand, this 8th whereof, I have hereunto day ofMarch, 1920. BERT L. CAIRNCROSS.

